Federal Attorney General Harald Range (AP)

According to a VNA correspondent in Germany, at a press conference on July 4 in Berlin, German Federal Justice Minister Heiko Maas announced that he had "early retired" Federal Prosecutor General Harald Range, 67, after he accused the German government of political interference in the treason investigation of two journalists from the Netzpolitik.org website.

In a hastily announced press conference at the Federal Justice Ministry in Berlin, Mr Maas said he had asked Attorney General Harald Range to retire early after consulting with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Minister Maas stressed that his confidence in Mr Range's ability to carry out his duties had been damaged.

On the same day, Minister Maas nominated Munich's Attorney General, Peter Frank, 46, as Range's successor.

Mr. Range said earlier that the Justice Department had asked him to remove an independent expert from the investigation of two journalists, Andre Meister and Markus Beckedahl of the blog Netzpolitik.org, after the expert said that the documents published by the two journalists were "state secrets," one of the requirements for turning the investigation into a treason case against the two journalists. However, Mr. Range said this request was a political interference in the independence of the judiciary.

The Justice Department questioned Mr. Range’s decision to investigate two journalists for the website Netzpolitik.org who reported that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, planned to expand its surveillance of online media.

Many senior German officials have affirmed that Berlin is committed to protecting press freedom. Minister Maas also expressed skepticism that publishing the documents on the blog Netzpolitik.org could be an act that could endanger Germany. The Federal Prosecutor General's Office has not yet said whether it will continue to investigate the case of the two journalists./.

(According to VNA/VN+)